Cost Effectiveness of Storm Water Runoff Best Management Practices for Water Quality Enhancement

Project summary:

In an effort to treat runoff and remove suspended and dissolved contaminants, many technologies have been developed. These include grassed swales, filter strips, detention ponds, grit chambers, infiltration trenches, and sand filters. The advantages of sand filters include their high removal rates, adaptability to low infiltration soils, and their small space requirements, making them suitable for urban areas. While the removal rates and costs of the other technologies have been well reported, data on sand filters, especially enhanced sand filters which can contain layers of peat, limestone, topsoil and/or other media, remains limited. This research investigated the effectiveness and associated costs of the aforementioned technologies, giving a cost-effectiveness analysis on each method. The research also investigated enhanced sand filtration as a means of treating storm water runoff. The final result is a set of guidelines that enable practicing engineers to select and/or design the most cost-effective treatment option for a given project.